


Observation and Need

by innerslytherin



Series: Morgan/Reid Series [3]
Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-11-21
Updated: 2009-11-21
Packaged: 2017-10-03 13:07:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 524
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18439
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/innerslytherin/pseuds/innerslytherin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Penelope Garcia isn't a profiler. That doesn't mean she's blind.  Preslash.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Observation and Need

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to [](http://severity-softly.livejournal.com/profile)[**severity_softly**](http://severity-softly.livejournal.com/) for betaing and recharging my interest in this fandom.

Penelope Garcia isn't a profiler, but she is one smart chica.  Just because she sits in front of six computer screens all day doesn't mean she has no understanding of the human mind--or, more importantly to her, the human heart.  As she sits in the noisy bar, surrounded by her friends, the people she has come to view as her _family_, she has never been more aware of just how mysterious the human heart can be.

Yes, her gorgeous specimen of male beauty Derek dances like a panther and acts like a dog, but she knows he does it to guard his heart.  Just like JJ is always trying to outdo the men she meets, whether at darts or pool or drinking, because they're intimidated no matter what--so she might as well intimidate them intentionally.  And Reid spouts _Star Trek_ trivia and random serial killer facts because he thinks he's only as good as he is smart, and has no idea of his own beauty.

And Penelope?  She watches Derek, lusting openly because he is safe, and because it keeps her from having to look at men who _might_ be attainable...and _might_ reject her anyway.

Yes, Pen's an observant girl.  So when Emily leans over and whispers for her to look at Reid, she isn't surprised to find Reid watching Derek, who is dancing, a tall redhead plastered against his side.

"Do you think Reid's ever jealous?" Emily whispers, to which Pen thinks, _All the time_, knowing Emily doesn't mean it that way.  "He's good-looking," Emily goes on.  "He should get out there more.  I'll bet the ladies would like him."

_Quite possibly they would_, Pen thinks, nodding to Emily.  _Not that he would notice_.

That's when Reid jumps a little, and she jerks her gaze away, thinking they've been caught staring.  But her gaze has gone naturally to Derek...and Derek is looking right at Reid.

"Oh," Penelope breathes, and then quickly looks away and takes a drink so Emily won't notice.  _Oh_.

Because Derek has pulled himself away from the redhead and is making his way to the bar.  The bartender's been watching Derek, too, and she's instantly attentive. He leans over, smiling and holding out a bill.  A moment later he has _two_ beers in his hand, and he's walking back, not this way, but to where Reid has been sitting alone since JJ found her latest pool jock to defeat.

He isn't smiling. Instead he has the look of a man who is concentrating very hard on not fucking up.

_Oh_, Pen thinks, and hops off her stool, her heart suddenly pounding in vicarious anxiety.  "Let's dance, Em! I love this song!"  It's one of her least favorite radio hits from the 80s, actually, but she doesn't care, she just has a sudden desperate urge to protect whatever is happening from prying eyes--even those of a friend.  Because Morgan trusts so few people, and Reid wears his intellect like a shield, and this, whatever it is, seems fragile somehow, overexposed...precious.

And Penelope may not be a profiler, but she knows need when she sees it.


End file.
